Peter Chaffetz and David Lindsey, founders and partners at newly formed boutique Chaffetz Lindsey could have simply hopped into another big firm life boat after their former firm, Clifford Chance hit stormy weather last year. Instead, they took another course: they launched a boutique that is … [Read more...]

Even though I reside in Bethesda, Maryland and practice appellate law in Washington D.C. just like appellate lawyer Mark Levy, the former Kilpatrick Stockton attorney who took his life after his firm downsized, our paths never crossed. As a biglaw attorney and a small fry in a highly stratified … [Read more...]

Even if for the sake of argument, you accept the proposition that biglaw is better than small law, the question is: how much better. Is an $850/hr partner at a mega firm really $500/hr better than his or her solo or small firm counterpart? Naturally, we solo and small firm lawyers would say no, … [Read more...]

From Biglaw to Yourlaw -
Yesterday, one of my solo colleagues Mitchell Matorin was profiled in the Wall Street Journal as asomewhat timely example of a large firm lawyer who has found success in solo practice. The story mentioned MyShingle and has been driving some traffic to this site, so I … [Read more...]

Not all lawyers who start their own firm experience wild success. This month's American Lawyer focuses on three who did not. I don't take issue with the story's spin because I believe that it's important to impress the challenges of starting a practice. Too many of the new crop of opportunist … [Read more...]

With many biglaw attorneys now considering solo practice, I wanted to list a couple of ideas and resources to procure biglaw practice tools on a budget. For most consumer practice areas, such as family law, bankruptcy, trusts and estates, new solos can find a cornucopia of low cost practice tools, … [Read more...]

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Robert Frost
Why is it that biglaw is always engaged in a constant game of follow the leader? A few years back, sites like Above the Law gleefully documented the steady upward march of … [Read more...]

Imagine having $100,000 to start a law firm. That's the consolation prize for the 190 associates laid off today by Latham and Watkins: six months of severance pay, capped at $100,000, reports AmLaw Daily. I realize that when you're saddled with student loans and the accoutrements of a biglaw … [Read more...]

Update - please see the comments, as they are very informative. I think perhaps my position may be too extreme - funding a couple of non-profit positions or funding indigent criminal defense prgrams may not, on further reflection, be a bad idea (although in many instances, solo and small firm … [Read more...]

Boo-hoo for biglaw. Unable to cope with the economic downturn, biglaw may now try to change the rules of the game. Over at Ideoblog, Professor Larry Ribstein faults ethics rules such as the prohibition on non-compete agreements and non-lawyer investment in law firms and conflicts of interest … [Read more...]